WEEK OF THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015
A Singular Voice in an Evolving City
WWW.MIAMITODAYNEWS.COM $4.00
OUTLOOK 2015
13 downtown projects headed for completion in 2015, pg. 16 FILM COMPLEX LEASE: A startup company wants to open a 900,000-square-foot movie production studio in Northwest Miami-Dade on county-owned property. On Tuesday, a county commission committee gave a preliminary OK for government staff to negotiate a lease with the company. Staff won’t start negotiations until the full commission votes to begin talks. The startup, Miami Ocean Studios Enterprises LLC, has also applied to the county for $10 million of taxpayer funds to go toward infrastructure improvements needed for the movie complex. That application is pending.
High-flying hotels might face pressure on room rates, pg. 19
THE ACHIEVER
BY JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS AND LIDIA DINKOVA
BONDS FOR FOOTBALL STADIUM: The Miami-Dade County Industrial Development Authority, an entity separate from county government that issues bonds on behalf of projects deemed economically beneficial, is to issue a $100 million taxable revenue bond, money that’s to cover part of the cost of reconstructing Sun Life Stadium. The overall renovation cost for the stadium is $425 million. Work is to include new seats and parking lot improvements. On Tuesday, a county commission committee gave a preliminary OK for the industrial development authority to issue the $100 million bond. The approval isn’t final until the full county commission signs off as well. LOCAL PREFERENCE: County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava told Miami Today that she is considering drafting legislation that would promote local preference for products produced in the county. MiamiDade currently has local preference legislation for businesses that aims to give local businesses a competitive edge for county-procured contracts. Ms. Levine Cava said she hasn’t honed details of her legislation but essentially it would promote the use of local products. For example, it would promote the use of Redland-raised produce or tropical fruits by kitchens at local hospitals. “Every time we use our money at home we are having a multiplier effect,” she said. MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: Today (1/15) a Miami-Dade County Commission committee is to consider whether the stadium at Florida International University should become the temporary site for a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise in Greater Miami. David Beckham, a British former soccer player, last year expressed interest in opening an MLS franchise in Miami, specifically on bayfront property. While efforts were unsuccessful, the search continues, according to county records. Now, Commissioner Juan Zapata is proposing that the MLS franchise use the FIU stadium temporarily until a permanent site is found.
Photo by Marlene Quaroni
Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark
Seeks traffic control, balanced growth for Gables The profile is on Page 4
County hall derails rail for bus rapid transit BY LIDIA DINKOVA
A county hall drive to ease traffic congestion has turned toward running buses on thoroughfares originally slated for rail service. Miami-Dade County is taking a hard look at running buses in four corridors, and Miami Beach wants buses on the MacArthur Causeway before planned light rail is built there. While buses run in the county and over the causeway, the latest efforts focus on a specific service, bus rapid transit (BRT), in which buses usually run within a designated lane to avoid traffic. The shift from rail to rubber tires reflects a push to ease traffic quickly and more affordably. It also reflects a shift from the original voter-approved goals for how to spend a countywide half-cent sales surtax. In 2002, county voters OK’d the surtax along with a transportation plan to use the revenue to extend the Metrorail on eight major thoroughfares. “There wasn’t enough money to do that,” said Charles Scurr, executive director of the Citizens’ Independent Transportation
AGENDA
New I-395 bridge gets a head start
Trust, which oversees surtax spending. “So what’s happened is you are coming up with different solutions for each corridor. For some of the corridors, like Northwest 27th Avenue, we’re talking about BRT.” Aside from Northwest 27th Avenue, Miami-Dade County is looking to run BRT on Douglas Road, Flagler Street and Kendall Drive. BRT is much cheaper than rail, according to county estimates. The completed 2.4-mile extension of Metrorail to Miami International Airport cost about $210 million per mile. That’s much more than the $13 million per mile it would cost to begin BRT in the 11.5-mile Northwest 27th Avenue corridor. At last week’s workshop of the Metropolitan Transportation Organization (MPO), the county’s transportation planning entity, officials’ nod toward BRT was evident. “It sounds to me like everybody here likes BRT. It almost feels like there has been an epiphany somehow,” said Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who sits on the MPO board. Not everyone at the workshop was on board, however. Some members said the
county should think big. “What was happening in the minds of people in the early 1900s when they first started to build the subway system in New York City?” asked county commission Chairman Jean Monestime, who sits on the MPO board. “And what’s going through my mind is that as we miss the opportunity of extending Metrorail north… what’re we going to say in another 30 years from today if we just do the basic, average thing because we’re trying to play it safe?” Under federal definitions, BRT could be heavy, meaning the system has more features such as a designated lane for the buses, or light, where the buses run with traffic or just partially within a designated lane. County Commissioner Barbara Jordan, who sits on the MPO board, said she has pushed for heavy BRT. Since this bus service runs within a designated lane, it paves the way for a future rail line, which might later take over the lane. “Our goal should be where all of the corridors in the future look more toward heavy BRT,” Ms. Jordan said, “if we expect to ever go to the Metrorail system.”
Major improvements to I-395, including a new “signature” bridge, are to begin earlier than planned. The Florida Department of Transportation has moved up its schedule and a call for bids could go out this year. Construction might begin by late 2016. The $600 million project will rebuild 1.4 miles of I-395 from the I-95/Midtown interchange to the west channel bridge of the MacArthur Causeway in Miami. Last October, the department was using a tentative schedule calling for work to begin in 2018. Asked why the state is moving ahead earlier, department spokesperson Tasha Cunningham told Miami Today, “The FDOT is committed to the project and was able to pull the funding in earlier, enabling the project to go to construction sooner.” Tentatively, she said, bid advertisement will be in the fall with construction to begin at the end of 2016 or early 2017. One contractor with a global presence is eyeing the job. Skanska, an international construction company, is to submit a proposal as part of a joint venture, said Mike Turner, program manager in Large Projects Group at Skanska USA Civil. The company, based in Sweden, works internationally. In the US, its units include Skanska USA Civil and Skanska USA Building. Last October, the state reported that bridge design options had been whittled down to two: Wishbone or Lotus. Now the department is saying a third option might come into play. “The final design has not been chosen and will be between the Wishbone, Lotus or an option proposed by the design build team,” Ms. Cunningham said. The department and the Aesthetic Steering Committee must approve the design, she said. “We will not know the design build option until the teams vying for the job present their ideas.”
PITCH TO LAWMAKERS: YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES ...
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$600 MILLION IN IMPACT FUELED BOAT SHOW ACCORD ...
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LARKIN PRESCRIBES CITY’S FIRST PHARMACY COLLEGE ...
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EMPLOYMENT’S GAINS ACCELERATE AS OIL PRICES FALL ... 13
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MASS TRANSIT’S ROUTE TO MIAMI WILL BE A SLOW TRIP ... 15
SEAGIS, ‘A PLAYER,’ BUYS 93RD WAREHOUSE IN REGION ...
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STRONG RESIDENTIAL SECTION MIGHT SEE PRICES SLIP ...
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